CHAPTER TWO; OLD FRIEND.

"The more wonderful the meeting, the sadder the parting"

"Should I go? Will it be weird if I go? Or would it be weird for me not to go?"

"Should you go? You , it'll be weird and rude of you not to go, this is Son Hyunwoo we're talking about, childhood friend, great person? Remember him? Yeah, he's asked you to go and look at possibly working at the company he is running, he's doing you a favour you numb nut you can't just leave him hanging like that!" Kihyun lectured Somi with his hands waving around as he walked around the living room, trying to get rid of his frustration with physical movements. Somi laid sprawled out on the couch on her back. She held the business card over her head, not looking away from it as Kihyun lectured her.

"How can you be so stubborn about this? Son Hyunwoo walked back into your life and offered you a job, and it's in a good company so it would be good pay. Not to mention, have you forgotten how close you were to him? This is one of your closest friends from school we're talking about, and now you'll be able to walk side by side with him"

"We were friends Kihyun" Somi reminded Kihyun and he paused, snapping his head around to look at her before his body followed and he marched over, shoving his face in front of hers without consideration of her personal boundaries.

"Why does that matter so much? Everyone was so close that you shouldn't have any hesitation right now, you should be excited that Hyunwoo ran into you and offered you this job" He glared at Somi and she let out a long breath, dropping her hand with the business cad still between her fingers.

"I think you're forgetting why we aren't friends anymore Kihyun" Somi sent Kihyun a pointed look and he slumped back onto the coffee table, looking at her with remorse.

"I know Mimi, trust me, I saw" Kihyun's voice got quieter, it was as if the room was suddenly colder and Somi shuddered, sitting up and grabbing the pillow her head had been on to hug it to her chest.

"Things went downhill Kihyun, that's not something I can brush aside, things changed for us, none of us was ok and we said and did things to each other that friends shouldn't have done. It can't just be ignored and now I go skipping through the workplace hand in hand with Hyunwoo again" Somi muttered, finishing off with a less than elegant snort.

"But look at it the other way, he wasn't cold to you was he? No, he was happy to see you and he even offered you a job in his business, you saw the reviews and popularity of the place online. Who just offers someone a job in a place like that for the sake of it? He wants you there, he clearly means that he would be happy to have you back in his life, enough to trust you with a job offer" Somi gave no reply as Kihyun looked at her, they stared at each other for a long moment before Kihun's shoulders sagged and he gave her a smile tinged with sadness.

"I don't think you need to hesitate," He started and Somi took in a big deep breath, "go and see what it's like there, maybe you'll love it and maybe things will mould back to normal between Hyunwoo and yourself" He encouraged and Somi blinked her wide eyes at him.

"Besides, you'll have me there with you, so what could go wrong?" They both knew that there was nothing Kihyun could physically do if something were to go wrong, but the thought of having him by her side brought Somi a sense of comfort and her eyes shone with gratitude towards him.

"I'll give it a go" She nodded and Kihyun smiled in relief.

"I'm glad"

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Somi could feel her stomach twisting in nervous knots from the moment she woke up. It had been hard to get sleep in the first place, and she woke up feeling nowhere near fully rested, with the little motivation she had gained to visit Hyunwoo's company gone. But she knew that wasn't going to cut it with Kihyun, she had already promised him several times over the course of the night that she would be going to see Hyunwoo and he would never let her live it down if she didn't go.

"So, are you planning to get out of the car, or are we just going to sit here all day?" Kihyun snapped Somi back to reality. She jumped in her seat and her eyes fluttered as she gasped, all before she deflated with a huff.

"Let's go" She undid her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Kihyun followed Somi as she swung the door shut and locked the vehicle as she walked away. Kihyun was quick to catch up to her, he was excited, which he could tell Somi was far from. He was curious about Hyunwoo's company, wanted to know what his friend had made of himself and if he was going well.

"It's this one here" Somi stopped in front of a tall standing building with Kihyun pausing next to her, they both looked up at the height of the building, taking it in for several long seconds.

"Cool let's go find Hyunwoo" Kihyun put his hands in his pockets and skipped in through the wall of the building, Somi's eyes widened, and forgetting what building he had actually entered, Somi rushed after him.

"Hello, can I help you?" Somi looked over at the reception desk and swallowed the lump that formed in , she hesitantly approached. Her fingers clung to the strap of the old bag familiarly hanging from her shoulder as she nodded, struggling to meet eyes with the lady that smiled at her from the other side of the desk.

"Hi, um, I'm here to see Son Hyunwoo, he asked me to come in and see him-"

"Oh, you're the guest he notified me of right? He did say and old friend was going to visit him at some stage, I'll take you to where he should be" The receptionist's facial expression changed several times in the short two seconds she rushed her words out, Somi watched her nervously and nodded, waiting to be shown to where Hyunwoo would be.

"Follow me" The receptionist walked around the desk and towards a set of doors that hid an elevator within them. She pressed the button to go up and flashed her identification card in front of the small monitor above the button. The elevator doors quickly opened and Somi entered the elevator behind the receptionist as Kihyun floated in, humming as he looked at the interior.

"It's rather fancy" He commented, Somi glanced at him briefly, catching the look of wonder and excitement on his face before she looked away again, keeping her eyes on the door of the elevator until it opened.

"This way" The receptionist scurried out and Somi scrambled to follow after her as the elevator doors slid shut behind them and they rushed down the hall. The receptionist was knocking on one of the doors further down the hall and peeking her head in before Somi could catch up to her and process which door she was actually knocking on.

"Oh sorry, I was too quick wasn't I?" She stood up straight, turning to Somi and making the other girl jolt in surprise. Somi took a step back as the receptionist sheepishly smiled her way.

"Hyunwoo is in there, you're free to go in"

"Hani, I hope you're not scaring another person" Hyunwoo commented as he opened the door, stepping through the doorway. Somi jumped in her place again and took in a deep breath as Hani kept a sheepish gaze on her.

"Maybe we are both the ones scaring her Hyunwoo" Hani commented in a meek voice. Hyunwoo looked at Somi, smiling when he met her nervous gaze.

"You actually came" He beamed and Somi nodded as Hani walked back down the hall, leaving her alone with Hyunwoo.

"He expected you not to come"

"I thought maybe you wouldn't come for a moment there" Kihyun and Hyunwoo spoke at the same time and Somi shuddered in the jacket she was wearing.

"Please, come in, I just need to grab a couple of things and then I can show you around" Hyunwoo entered the room again, Somi took the chance to glare at Kihyun and Kihyun waved his hand at her in response. He shooed her into the room and Somi rolled her eyes before walking through the door. She stepped right into Hyunwoo's office and didn't realise until she was standing in the big room, looking around with wide eyes.

"I guess we could just start with here right? Downstairs was the reception area, and this is my office, it feels kind of big and empty but it's probably because I haven't tried filling it with anything" Hyunwoo was right. The room did feel big and empty, there were big sheer curtains shut in front of the wall lengthed windows with the lights in the ceiling lighting the room. Hyunwoo had his desk to one end of the room with a couch and a coffee table in front of the shut curtains in between Hyunwoo's desk and a few stray cabinets at the other end of the room. The space was big and open and just by looking around Somi had a feeling that Hyunwoo didn't spend too much of his time in the room. 

"Spacious" Kihyun hummed, Somi nodded, looking around the room as Hyunwoo picked up a folder from his desk and smiled her way, coming closer with the folder in his hands.

"I have to take this by our stylist's office, so let's go there first?" Hyunwoo suggested and Somi looked away from the decor of the room to look at him.

"Yeah, let's do that" She nodded, giving a tight lipped smile.

"Is that what I think it is?" Hyunwoo looked at the bag hanging from Somi's shoulder and she looked down at it too, still tightly grasping the strap.

"Oh, yeah it is" Somi confirmed and Hyunwoo let out a chuckle, putting his hand out.

"Would you like to leave it in here? I'll lock the door and it'll be safe" Hyunwoo promised her. The strap of the bag slinked off her shoulder without Somi's consent and she looked to her side. Kihyun's face was scrunched up as he did his best to pull on the strap of the bag.

"Yeah, that would be good" Somi quickly handed the bag over to Hyunwoo as he wished and Kihyun let out a big sigh of relief as Hyunwoo walked away to put the bag on his desk.

"After you" Hyunwoo gestured out of the room when he approached again and Somi stepped out with him following behind her as he promised. Hyunwoo locked the door and turned to her, letting out a sigh as he smiled at Somi.

"I promise this will be good, let's go back this way and I'll introduce you to our lead stylist Minah while we're there" Hyunwoo gestured back down the hall and the pair walked side by side. Kihyun walked from side to side down the hall, it was difficult to act like Kihyun wasn't there, but Hyunwoo was striking up a good conversation, a lot more talkative than Somi could remember the younger version of himself being, so she tried to force all of her attention onto Hyunwoo instead.

"Practically everything we need is luckily in the building, our stylists, makeup and hair artists, recruiting, the whole lot happens in this building, the only reason we have to go out for anything is for shoots and gigs in other locations, it's been really convenient for us and we've been lucky to have all of our resources so close to us," Hyunwoo beckoned the elevator and Somi nodded as she listened to him, looking at the interior of the building now that she wasn't running after Hani so hastily.

"He's got the floor to himself by the looks of it" Kihyun commented, hovering over Somi's shoulder as she hummed in response.

"Ask him if I'm right!" Kihyun ordered her.

"Is he-Do you have this floor to yourself?" Somi caught herself, stumbling over her words and looking away from Hyunwoo to glare over her other shoulder at Kihyun.

"Your mistake not mine" Kihyun shrugged as Hyunwoo shook his head with a hum.

"The only room I use is my office down at the end of the hall. All these other doors are actually smaller offices, some for specific people and some free for anyone to use. If you were to work here," Hyunwoo gave Somi a knowing look as he spoke, "you would have one of those rooms to yourself, set up with a computer and anything else you wish to have so that you can edit your photos, plan shoots, work on print outs or hold meetings with the team and models, because those sort of things need to happen" Somi nodded as she followed Hyunwoo into the elevator. Kihyun hung by Somi's side, eyes pinned on the two as it went quiet for a moment.

"You don't like to use your office?" Somi asked as an attempt at ending the silence and Hyunwoo looked down at her with surprise written across his face, making Somi regret breaking the silence as she looked away from him again.

"You can tell? Hani's always telling me that I need to give the room more wear, she thinks it looks too sleek and plain. But I prefer to spend my time being hands on with my team, so I'll be in their offices with them rather than my own a lot of the time"

"I see"

"Yeah, it would be really inconvenient to put anything important in the room or to dress it up more, it would just be wasting the space and time needed to do that, so I just leave it" Hyunwoo's shoulders bobbed and Somi nodded.

"That makes sense if you're not going to spend time in the room," Somi looked down at the folder in Hyunwoo's hand and her brows pinched in curiosity.

"What do you have there?" She asked and Hyunwoo held the folder up to eye level.

"This?" He asked and Somi nodded.

"This folder has the outfit designs that we've been going over for one of our upcoming shoots, I'll be giving it to Minah so that she can start putting the outfits together and have the model try them on for adjustments"

"Interesting" Somi hummed as Hyunwoo opened the folder for her to see.

"It actually is really, I never thought I would care about how clothes are made or stuff like that, but when you see how Minah works and the environment, you can't help but to be interested and realise that it's more fun than it is work for the team behind the looks"

"I've never heard of them, who are they?" Somi pointed to the logo printed on the page and Hyunwoo's brows went up as the elevator doors opened with a ding.

"They're a new upcoming clothing company, the owner is a mutual of one of our recruiters or something along those lines, they're hoping that by working with us they can spread some awareness about their brand before the day they officially have their stuff put out in stores"

"Wow, that's kind of cool" Somi hummed as Hyunwoo closed the folder again and took to striding down another long hall.

"Yeah it's good, we've helped a couple of small companies out in that way, modelling their clothes or collaborating with their models for a shoot, they let us keep the clothes we use or give us money, but it's all good fun and there have been some good people to put on the list for future collaborations"

"That's awesome" Somi agreed.

"This floor is mostly where all the clothing and set side of things are, all our props and stuff is stored in some of these rooms, but this big door right here," Hyunwoo stopped in front of the big door and knocked, "is the door to Minah's magic castle" He told Somi, who formed an 'o' with to respond as Hyunwoo opened the door. The room was huge in terms of space, it could also have the same said in terms of the mess, but it wasn't a bad kind of a mess, Somi could tell that as she looked around the area. The mess before her was one where she could tell it meant work was getting done.

"Minah!" Hyunwoo called out as he entered the room with Somi following closely behind him.

"Wow, look at this place" Somi heard Kihyun comment, he drifted further into the room but Somi stayed with her feet planted in the spot, remaining hidden behind Hyunwoo's taller frame. A head of hair popped out from behind a rack of clothing, it was a thick, wild mop of hair that had a hair tie struggling to control it in a bun atop of the head of a young, youthful looking face, ridden with tiredness as the woman came out and revealed herself.

"Oh Hyunwoo, do you have the goods?" The woman came over and Hyunwoo nodded, showing her the folder in his hand.

"I certainly do" He chimed, handing the folder over as soon as the woman was within arms reach. She took it gladly and flipped it over, keen interest sparking in her eyes as she looked at everything that Somi had been shown moments ago.

"This is it, this is everything we need" She nodded and Hyunwoo presented a smile, proudly fixing his jacket.

"I look forward to it," Hyunwoo's head bobbed, "if you'll excuse me, I won't be sticking around for long today, I'm showing an old friend of mine around the place," Hyunwoo told her and Somi's stomach churned nervously.

"Your friend?"

"Yes, this is," Hyunwoo looked next to him but Somi wasn't there and his face scrunched up, stepping aside and looking back, "what are you doing back there? This is Somi, one of my closest friends in high school" Hyunwoo introduced her and Somi automatically bowed on instinct, her hair covering her face as she did so.

"I'm Minah, it's nice to meet someone who's known Hyunwoo for so long, what was he like?" Minah asked and Somi brushed her hair back from her face as she looked at Hyunwoo, contemplation in her eyes.

"Uhm, well-" 

"As I said, I have to show Somi around the place, hoping to hire her and stuff so we can't stick around! Later Minah" Hyunwoo cut Somi off, putting his hands on Somi's shoulders and spinning her around, pushing her back towards the door as he waved at Minah.

"Come back and tell me later then!" Minah yelled at them and Somi flinched as she stumbled back out into the hall and Hyunwoo swung the door shut again.

"Well that was close" Hyunwoo huffed out, fixing his jacket as his cheeks puffed out.

Aw," Kihyun stuck his head through the wall before stepping out, "Woo's embarrassed" He cooed as he grinned at Hyunwoo's flushed cheeks.

"Scared I was going to say something embarrassing?" Somi blinked up at Hyunwoo and he snapped his eyes to look at her and look away again.

"Maybe, let's keep going, there are more things I want to show you. And there's someone that you should see" Hyunwoo told her as he began walking back down the hall with Somi and Kihyun drifting behind him.

"You have someone you want me to see?" She asked and Hyunwoo nodded as they got back to the elevator.

"I forgot to say it when I saw you at the cafe, but Changkyun is one of the models under my agency"

"Changkyun works here?" Somi muttered and Hyunwoo nodded, smiling down at her.

"He should be around here somewhere today, I'll drop him a text and then we can go say hi"

"No way! Changkyun's here?" Kihyun exclaimed and Hyunwoo missed how the volume of the voice he couldn't hear had Somi scowling.

"He hasn't brought you up in a long time, so you mustn't have seen him since school right?"

"No, I haven't" Somi shook her head, voice getting quieter as they stood in the elevator and made their way to the next floor.

"I'm sure it'll be good, I was so surprised when I ran into you yesterday, I hadn't seen you in so long that I thought you must have left town, though I haven't really seen any of the others so I thought all of you left town to be fair" Hyunwoo admitted and Somi shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know where the others are anymore," She told him and Hyunwoo hummed.

"I'm sure Changkyun will be happy to know you're here" Somi followed him out of the hall and Hyunwoo clapped his hands together before expanding them to the perimeter of the hall they were walking down now.

"This hall is dedicated to our shoots, any shoots that we do in this building will be in one of these rooms, there are also fewer rooms compared to the other floors since the rooms are a lot bigger to fit makeup stations, clothing stations and the set for taking the photos, Changkyun should be in here somewhere, he has a shoot coming up today" Hyunwoo explained and Somi nodded as she listened, her hands clasped behind her back, wringing her fingers around her wrists so that Hyunwoo wouldn't see how anxious she was.

"Oh my god," Kihyun stumbled out from the wall on Somi's right and she glanced his way, "you're going to love it in there!" He exclaimed with a bright grin on his face, so to keep the smile on his face, Somi looked at Hyunwoo again.

"Can we have a look at one of the rooms?" She asked him, Hyunwoo jolted, having been deep in thought for the moment and Somi opened to apologise.

"Well yeah, of course we can, I wanna find Changkyun so we'll look in all the rooms until we can find him" Hyunwoo nodded and Somi smiled. Her stomach churned and the smile dropped when Hyunwoo looked away, stopping at the first door.

"First go?" Hyunwoo's brows went up as he gripped the door handle and Somi's eyes widened before she shrugged, giving another smile.

"Maybe" Hyunwoo opened the door and Somi followed him into the room. He was right, the rooms really were large, larger than what Hyunwoo's office had been from what Somi could tell. Some doors led off to smaller rooms that Hyunwoo explained to be the clothing and makeup stations, there were props and things like lights around the room and Somi couldn't deny the tug it pulled at her interest.

"Wow" She let out as she looked around.

"Should we keep looking around?" Hyunwoo proposed and Somi nodded, quickly following Hyunwoo out of the room.

"Isn't it cool?" Kihyun gushed as he chased after her, and with Hyunwoo's back to them, she looked at Kihyun, smiling as she nodded in agreement.

"I told you that you would love it" The second studio wasn't too different from the first, but Somi was still amazed by it and was almost excited to see the third one, even if it was going to be the same. Hyunwoo opened the door, and noise greeted them this time.

"This must be the one" Hyunwoo hummed and Somi bit down on her lip, hesitating before she followed Hyunwoo into the room with Kihyun verbally urging her as he dashed into the room.

"Afternoon Hyunwoo" 

"Is it that time already? I didn't think it was even noon yet"

"It is, not long past two now"

"Wow. Don't mind us, I'm just showing an old friend of mine around, she might be joining us here" Hyunwoo informed the person he was talking to and that was when Somi looked away from the set up of the room to pay attention to the conversation.

"Oh, who's this?"

"Han Somi, a friend from high school and a great photographer" Hyunwoo put his hand on Somi's back, making her go rigid as he pushed her to join the conversation.

"Min Junghyun" Junghyun offered his hand and Somi was quick to take it, bowing politely to Junghyun.

"We're starting soon, but stick around and have a look, I'm sure you'll love what you see, it's great here with Hyunwoo"

"Thanks Junghyun, we'll stay quiet" Hyunwoo nodded, putting his hand on Somi's back again and leading her away as Junghyun waved, rushing back over to the set.

"These are the makeup and clothing rooms when a shoots in action, it can get pretty busy and crowded, but that doesn't make it any less fun" Hyunwoo knocked and opened the door, stepping in and blocking the room from Somi's view as a light voice greeted him. Kihyun rushed into the room and she could hear him cheering through the wall.

"Sooyoung, you're talking with just the man I was looking for" Hyunwoo looked back, stepping aside and waving his arm, gesturing for Somi to enter the room. Somi could feel her stomach dropping and her feet didn't want to move.

"Come in" Hyunwoo encouraged and Somi gripped the cuffs of her sleeves tightly, hesitantly stepping into the room.

"Come say hi" Hyunwoo dragged her further into the room and Somi's heart hammered in her chest, her mind racing too much for her to be able to take in what the room looked like.

"What's up?" A deep voice asked and Somi's mouth went dry as Hyunwoo kept a hand on her back. Kihyun was jumping around, clapping his hands loudly.

"Two in one day Somi! Two in one day!"

"There's someone here that you should see" Hyunwoo answered the voice, pushing Somi through the stylists and makeup artists that shuffled to move out of their way.

"Who's here?"

"Take a look and see who's here" One thing was certain, Somi was nowhere near as excited as Hyunwoo was.

Is it mean of me to cut the chapter off there? Hahaha, we'll just have to wait for next weeks chapter to see how Somi and Changkyun go with meeting after so long.

How do you think it will go? Wil Changkyun be as happy as Hyunwoo is to have Somi around or will things turn sour here?

Let me know how you think it will go~